Speedcar growing?

[R59]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Stockcars are great on road courses, just not with ex-F1 'stars' on middle eastern circuits.

Well actually, I can say, from experience, that they are great on road course, and it doesn't matter whether ex-F1 drivers want to join in, just as long as we can get MORE, and not only on middle eastern circuits.

Speedcar Europe anyone?

[kelvin88]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

You mean the americans and europeans?? (sorry too easy)

But I'm inclined to agree that the Middle East is an odd choice for these cars but then the whole thing is an odd concept, I could understand it if they ran a coupla oval races but big ol' stock cars on road courses - sorry whats the point? If you want close panel bending cation may I suggest S2000 tourers

The point, i'm sure is clear profit. Building S2000 cars costs what it says on the tin, where as, you already know, building a spec stockcar is cheap.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by kelvin88

The point, i'm sure is clear profit. Building S2000 cars costs what it says on the tin, where as, you already know, building a spec stockcar is cheap.

Thats why I don't understand Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet don't start a stockcar series.

[chunterer]

There's 2 major themes occurring here:

1/ Is the series purely set up to just run in the desert and pull in wealthy locals as their first motorsport sponsorship involvment before wooing them to F1?

OR

2/ Is this the fledgling start of a proper series that is going to eventually support the GP circus at some of the rounds.

OR EVEN

3/ Is this Bernie's age old PROCAR/superstar concept returning in yet another guise?........

[kelvin88]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Thats why I don't understand Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet don't start a stockcar series.

Because they have Touring cars which are already established in Europe.

[FIRE]

Chevrolet yes, but Dodge and Ford don't.

[kelvin88]

Ford have pulled their motorsport budget in Europe and Dodge don't market a regular, everyday kind of saloon car over here.

[FIRE]

Ford Germany wanted/wants a circuit project.
Dodge Avenger, Dodge Caliber and in near future Dodge Journey.

[R59]

One of the other issues is that Touring Cars are based on "shopping cars" that Mr & Mrs Public drive. Where Stock Cars are supposed to look like "full size" American market models.

Which they don't sell in Europe (in general).

[kelvin88]

Fire, i didn't know the Avenger was here but i still think you will see it in Touring cars before Dodge and Ford make a formula for it.

Or one might turn up in CAMSO V8

[kelvin88]

We (Europeans) seem to have lost our way somewhat with the whole NASCAR in Europe argument.
When you talk about NASCAR coming to Europe, what actually is it you want? Do you want to meet their drivers or do you want to see Europeans driving that kind of car? Do you want their money? Their attendance figures? Or just close racing?

If NASCAR decided tomorrow to use Minivans instead of COT cars would it still be Stockcar racing? Likewise if they decided to ditch ovals in favour of road courses, would it still be stockcar racing?

When NASCAR was born, it had a very simple premise. It would create entertaining racing from which everyone would benefit.
Circuit racing, as we know it was designed for the driver. That’s why early races were so long, if people watched it all the better, but that wasn’t the point of the event.
This is the primary difference, certainly in England, between stockcar racing and circuit racing. And this remains the difference today. Circuit racing doesn’t care if it gets a gate because the competitors, be they the individual, the team or the manufacturer, has already paid.
Stockcar promoters rely on the gate money to survive.
Because the FIA is run in the way it is, it will never be able to create this kind of event. It has no need to. And it never will unless club and national racing ceases to function because of the costs involved.
The infrastructure does not exist in Europe for the FIA to create an oval stockcar formula and to have it happen on road circuits would kind of defeat the object.
The Yanks don’t race on ovals because they happen to be there, they do it because people watch it. Go to your local oval and have a look. Warneton is packed to the rafters most weekends. Arlington Stadium, near where I live, is also. Brands Hatch and Lydden are not. The only big gate I have seen at Lydden for a circuit racing meeting is when the Stockcars were on the same bill.

The bit that confuses me is this idea that masses of people will come and watch some racing because there are some American cars in it. That is naive at best. Do you really think NASCAR circuit racing is better than Super Touring? V8 Brutes? DTM? V8 Supercar? Even Legends? I don’t see it, circuit racing is circuit racing, Stockcar racing is oval.

[Bostik]

So what happened to Speedcar Series? It seems to have gone a bit quiet.

[duke_toaster]

It went in to the offseason as it supports GP2 Asia.

[Bostik]

Looks like their 'offseason' may continue for some time and GP2 Asia will be on its own in Shanghai now.

No Speedcar drivers have been been announced for the scaled down calendar recently announced.

Doesn't look good. Another 'one season wonder' perhaps?

[Dan Friel]

That isn't good news who is (was) providing the backing??

[chocmonster7]

http://www.racingshow.it/Speedcar%20...esentation.pdf

This is the presentation brochure for when the series started and gives some info as to who was/is running it.

They only had one official test day before the season started last year (most recent activity is a test session in June this year) so I'm not giving up hope yet. I would have thought that if nothing was going to happen they wouldn't have bothered announcing any kind of schedule.

[Bostik]

Interview with Jean Alesi in automobilsport.com :

Q: How did you find out about the Speedcar Series?

A: "I met Benoit Lamonerie (Union Properties) and Luciano Secchi, the promoters of Speedcar, at last year's Italian Grand Prix. I knew them very well and I know that they are very concrete people. I immediately understood that they had the resources to organise a great series when they told me about the Nascar-style idea they had for Asia and the Middle East. It sounded exciting, and made me think of what I would like to do in the next stage of my racing career".

[Bostik]

I've just seen the irony of what Alesi said!

The only justification for spending some $40m on a new stockcar series in Dubai I could see is to market 'Motor City' - a mega real estate development built right around the Dubai Autodrome that Union Properties is building.

"Concrete people" - clearly a Freudian slip.

Looks like it could be a 12 month marketing campaign unless the Bank's feeling generous.

[FIRE]

New teams:
Phoenix Racing
David Price Racing
Meritus Racing
Christian Jones Racing
Teams AF Corse
Durango
N.Technology

Testing at Dubai:
1. Jean Alesi, 1.42,501 Min.
2. Bertrand Baguette, 1.44,193
3. Chris Buncombe, 1.46,573
4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, 1.43,408
5. James Grunwell, 1.48,308
6. Johnny Herbert, 1.43,140
7. Christian Jones, 1.43,734
8. Vitantonio Liuzi, 1.45,011
9. Gianni Morbidelli, 1.43,688
10. Alessandro Nannini, 1.46,084
11. Laurent Steiger, 1.55,328
12. Paul Tracy, 1.43,978
13. Sakon Yamamoto, 1.47,761
14. Alex Yoong, 1.45,144

[chunterer]

Thanks for that little list FIRE!

The majority iof the front running ex F1 guys are back with one or two exceptions like Lehto?

He's pretty matey with Herbert, Frentzen and Alesi I believe so surely he'll get invited back?

What about JV and Steve Johnson?

Any rumours of other guys scheduled to take part?

[FIRE]

BTW Source of my info is www.racing1.de

All the new teams are excellent (don't know about Christian Jones)

[RichardRenes]

Originally Posted by kelvin88

The bit that confuses me is this idea that masses of people will come and watch some racing because there are some American cars in it. That is naive at best. Do you really think NASCAR circuit racing is better than Super Touring? V8 Brutes? DTM? V8 Supercar? Even Legends? I don’t see it, circuit racing is circuit racing, Stockcar racing is oval.

You know, untill this July I had no idea what was good about NASCAR that it drew as many people to circuits as it did... untill I heard one running at Zandvoort.

It wasn't quick.. it may have more horsepower than a DTM Audi or Mercedes, but can not even touch the laptimes.

But the noise..... ..... ...

I don't know how they do it, but everytime that Toyota Camry passed me, there was this huge smile on my face.. The noise simply makes people happy.

Imagine that 43 fold thundering into, say, Tarzan corner here at Zandvoort

[kelvin88]

Building American Stockcars is a very expensive way of repoducing that noise, Richard.

[RichardRenes]

can you suggest a cheap way then ? ;P

Nothing I heard in other series even comes remotely close.. expensive or otherwise.

[kelvin88]

Err... Find some saloon cars and put V8s in them?